


Dungeons and Dragon Age

by adrunkgiraffe, Dim_shim



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Dragon Age: Inquisition Spoilers, Gen, Sleepwalking, The Eleventh Hour, it's essentially the entire game, so just like...be warned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-01-25 09:51:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12528648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrunkgiraffe/pseuds/adrunkgiraffe, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dim_shim/pseuds/Dim_shim
Summary: Magnus has a sleepwalking problem that gets him into trouble."Trouble" has never meant something this big.





	1. Magnus Sleep-Rushes in

For as long as he could remember, Magnus had had a sleepwalking problem. He would get out of bed and walk under the stars, unaware of what was going on. It had been a bit of a hassle as a kid, he was constantly finding himself on forest floors or with bloody feet on a cliffside. Once, he had almost been ‘kidnapped’ - a group of forest elves had found him wandering and led him back to their camp to keep him safe. That’s how he learned basic elvish. It’s probably a big part of why danger doesn’t bug him anymore.

Once he got older, it was much more manageable, until eventually he would only find himself sleepwalking in times where he was distressed (which, for him, wasn’t all that often.) He learned the most elvish in the month after Julia’s passing, when he stumbled into another troupe of elves and just sort of stayed with them. They could monitor him a bit better than your average tavern keeper, and it wasn’t like he really belonged anywhere anymore.

This was definitely a time of distress. Not only had he just relived his wife’s passing, but in the past 24 hours, every bit of what he knew had been thrown into question. Who was he? What was Lucretia not telling them about the relics and red robes? How did he know the Voidfish? He couldn’t even discuss it with the other dos horny boys. How exactly does one say “You know those things made by evil people that destroy lives and cost the world everything? I think I made one of them!” 

“You know how I said it was totally cool if either of you wanted to use the chalice but I wasn’t going to? Not only was I inches away from using it to save my wife, I MADE the thing!”

Haha. No. 

So, instead, he wandered around in his sleep that night. Deep, deep in his sleep. 

So deep, in fact, that he didn’t see the portal of pure light opening in front of him, two feet away from his bed.

Nor did he feel the change in the air when he passed through, the change from carpeted floors to cold stone, the almost layered sense of reality that, though similar to his own, was more streamlined. 

He didn’t wake up to any of these things, but they brought him close enough to consciousness to allow him to hear the single cry coming from a nearby door.

“Help! Someone!” It was the voice of an old woman. Still groggy, Magnus stumbled closer to the source of the call.

“Prepare the sacrifice” A deeper voice grumbled. It sounded...distorted. Almost akin to what the relics sounded like.

“Why are you doing this? You of all people?” The woman shouted.

“Keep the sacrifice still.” The deeper voice ignored. 

“Someone! Help me!” The woman pleaded again. Magnus began speeding up, finally crashing through a set of giant wooden doors. In front of him floated the old woman, wearing what looked to be religious clothes - but not from any order he’d ever seen. Her head was adorned with a tall hat, with a golden triangle on it, and her robes adorned with a sword and a few flames. She seemed to be held up by beams of light coming out of the hands of a few assembled soldiers, in winged armor and blank expressions. Approaching the old woman was what Magnus assumed to be the source of the deeper voice, a man(?) who SERIOUSLY needed some lessons in moisturization, covered in what looked like rocks or maybe charred meat. Magnus really couldn’t tell. But the dude was holding a giant marble towards the old woman, one that emanated crackling green lightning.

“Uh...What’s going on here?” He yelled over the crackling sound. The two looked at him in shock, the old woman taking the opportunity to hit the marble out of the dude’s hand. It happened to roll towards Magnus. He picked it up, and INSTANTLY felt a pain in his sword-bearing hand. Meat-dude saw he had the marble and charged towards him, angry, but the marble shot him with the green lightning. 

Then everything exploded.

Next thing Magnus knew he was on a different layer of reality. He scaled the side of a broken temple, up towards the woman from before. There were…’demons’ coming, she’d called them that. They were just giant spiders. You know, like he’d been fighting before? No biggie for him, but she was a civilian. Magnus managed to get through the portal back to normal reality, but it was too late for the woman...her name was...Justinia? Maybe? He tried, he reached back towards the portal to bring her there, but his hand crashed into crackling green lightning. He passed through another portal to the terrified and angry faces of many. Some were in similar clothing to Justinia. Some were dressed in dark clothes. Some had armor with her symbol on it.

 

And then he passed out, and found that his memory of these events just slipped out of his brain.


	2. Wrath of Heaven and Fantasy Tom Hardy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus meets some greatgreat characters and one actor who played that villain in Star Trek Nemesis. He has two things to his name now: Destiny and a beary cozy onesie.

When he came to, it was in a cold prison cell. On the floor was a sun symbol carved into the stone. He looked to his hand, and it crackled with a strange green energy, in the most painful way possible. Below him, the cold of the floor seeped through his Ruff’n’Tuff Beary-Soft onesie...shit he’d been sleepwalking, hadn’t he. Above him stood two equally rad-and-scary-looking women staring down at him, one glaring, one impassive.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now” said the sterner woman, with cropped black hair and a scarred face, wearing armor emblazoned with a sunburst eye. “The conclave is destroyed, everyone who attended is dead - except for you.” This wasn’t the first time Magnus had felt so immediately intimidated and in awe of someone, and it wouldn’t be the last by a longshot. She appeared to be waiting for a response.

“Uh...wait what? Everyone’s dead? What happened?” Magnus asked back. He honestly had no idea how he’d gotten here, much less how an entire area could have been destroyed. Suddenly, the stern woman held up his arm, still crackling with energy.

“Explain this.” She demanded, coolly and evenly in a way that terrified and amazed him. Who was this woman and could they PLEASE recruit her as a regulator HOLY SHIT. But to her question…

“I...Can’t.” He didn’t remember anything. This didn’t even seem like a voidfish thing it was just some big nothing in his memory.

“What do you mean you can’t?” She was getting even angrier now, which, wow THAT was possible. 

“I don’t know...what it is or how it got there...or uh...where I am? Sorry-” Before he could apologize for not knowing ANYTHING, the sterner woman grabbed him by the collar of his onesie.

“You’re LYING” She shouted, before being pulled back by the other woman, one with red hair underneath a purple hood and carefully scanning green eyes. She wasn’t as aggressive but was JUST as terrifying.

“We need him, Cassandra.” The red-haired woman implored. The dark haired woman (Cassandra, Magnus assumed) stepped off but didn’t stop glaring at him. 

“Okay...” Magnus decided to try asking this of someone who was still making up her mind about killing him, rather than someone who REALLY wanted to “Can you like...explain what’s going on here? I don’t understand...anything right now.”

“Do you remember what happened? How this began?” Last thing Magnus knew, he was lying down, tired and upset, in his bureau of balance room. Something told him that static wasn’t going to appeal as an answer to these people. The memories after that were a little hazy, but…

“I think I remember running… I was being chased by...things...and then there was this...woman” That piqued the interest of both his interrogators.

“A woman?” Asked purple-hood.

“She reached out to me, I think...but then….” Magnus sighed. He couldn’t remember anything beyond that.

“Go to the forward camp, Leliana.” Cassandra requested walking over to the red-haired woman (probs Leliana, from context) “I will take him to the Rift.” The rift? That was new. Leliana gave Cassandra a solemn nod, and left the room. Cassandra turned and unshackled Magnus from the floor, though did not unclasp the binding around his wrists entirely. Since she was calm, Magnus thought to try again and figure out where in Faerun he was.

“So uh...what exactly did happen?” Cassandra gave him a flat look, not quite malicious but definitely upset.

“It...will be easier to show you.” She replied cryptically.

When they emerged from the holding cell, Magnus instantly knew two things:

He had absolutely no idea where he was.   
Shit was Fucked.

This was an unfamiliar mountain-laden landscape, covered in snow even though it was supposedly mid-summer, with people he did not recognize. In the sky was a giant glowing green hole, surrounded by intimidating clouds. From the looks of everyone else in this encampment, this definitely was not a normal thing for them either. He stared at it for a while, dumbstruck. It almost looked like the light they’d seen, months ago, in Goldcliff. This was not a good thing. 

“We call it the breach.” Cassandra interrupted his reverie “A massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour.” Demons? That was a pretty old-fashioned word for monsters, right? But then again... most monsters - aside from liches - came from their world, right? This made little to no sense. 

“It’s not the only such rift.” Cassandra continued, turning towards him “Just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the conclave.” Something told Magnus that they expected him to know what the conclave was, and that it was a long story, so he let that part go.

“An explosion can do that?” was a safer question option.

 

“This one did.” She answered walking towards Magnus in an intimidating and inspiring way. “Unless we act, the breach may grow until it swallows the world.” Alright! world important SIDE QUEST SHIT. This is what Magnus was HERE FOR. Until, as if to emphasize her point, the breach fizzled a bit and made his hand hurt. Honestly, sometimes he wished he had a soul-wood arm. The pain was so excruciating he fell to the ground, cradling his forearm. Cassandra knelt towards him, slightly less angry now. “Each time the breach expands, your mark spreads, and it is killing you.” You don’t say? Is what Magnus wanted to say.

“Euuugh” Is what he did say.

“It may be the key to stopping this.” Cassandra barreled on. “There isn’t much time.”

“How exactly do those things connect?” Magnus queried, the pain subsiding.

“We believe the mark could close the Breach.” Cassandra replied, determined. 

“That’s not much to work on is it?” Even Magnus didn’t usually rush in on such a slim amount of data.

“It’s our only chance. And yours.” She answered simply. Somehow, Magnus trusted her instincts. 

“Okay. I think I get this.” He started hyping himself. 

“Then…?” 

“I’ll try and do what I can. If there’s a way to help, just point me at it.” She nodded, almost approvingly, and helped the warrior to his feet, leading him by the elbow past some guards and veeeeeeeeery angry townspeople.

“Yeesh.” he muttered, not loud enough for Cassandra to hear, “Don’t think my ‘rustic hospitality’s getting me through this one.”

“They have decided your guilt. They need it.” Intoned Cassandra, indicating the glaring crowd “The people of Haven mourn our most holy Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry.” (Magnus was super grateful for the exposition, so he just kept nodding) “The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars.” (Mages? So like any type of spellcaster right? Also what were templars and why did every single spellcaster hate them? Magnus had many questions, but Cassandra was clearly monologuing) “She brought their leaders together. Now they are dead. We lash out like the sky, but we must think beyond ourselves, as she did, until the breach is sealed.” As she finished this last bit of poetic comparison, they crossed over a high stone bridge, the other end of which was covered in soldiers. She took out a knife, and turned back towards Magnus.

“There will be a trial. I can promise no more.” She said, cutting him free of his ropes. “Come, it is not far.”

“Uh...quick question...Where are we going?”

“We need to test your mark on something smaller than the breach.” Was her only reply. “Open the gate!” She shouted, leading him further up the path. “We are heading into the valley.” Okay, THAT’S the answer.

They continued on, past fires and trees, until they got attacked by some...Magnus didn’t even know what. Holy shit. Cassandra started fighting them off pretty well, but clearly she needed help. Magnus looked around for something he could fight with, and conveniently found a sword and shield right near him. Not as cool as the chance lance, and not as useful as his shield of heroic memories, but usable to say the least. He rushed into the fight, getting off two attacks with his sword, and using his bonus action to Protect Cassandra when the beast tried to slice her in two. She acted right after, swinging out from under Magnus’ shield and delivering a flurry of hits at the beast, swinging her sword with a regular ease. 

They fought well together right up until they defeated the thing, when Cassandra whipped around to face Magnus, pointing her sword at him threateningly. He felt both annoyed and honored. 

“Drop. Your. Weapon. NOW.” He obeyed without realizing it. But then, a moment after, he came to his senses and was pissed.

“Wait...dude...I...saved you back there. Like I get it, you don’t trust me but like… what exactly do I have to gain by attacking you? I don’t know my way around here at all. I barely remember who I am much less how I got here, and I have something growing on my hand that’s going to kill me! Like it or not, we need to work together, and, hey, we seem to do well when we do.” This irritated Cassandra but she sighed and nodded.

“You’re right. I can’t really protect you - you ended up protecting me in that fight. I can’t expect you to be defenseless. You did come willingly, after all.”

“Right on! So, we good?” Cassandra kind of shot him a questioning look for his word choice, but nodded all the same, and they continued. 

They kept going, fighting weird thing after weird thing. Cassandra called them ‘demons.’ Magnus had never seen anything like this before. And he’d seen a lot.

Eventually, they heard the sounds of fighting. Magnus shot Cassandra a look “Do we go help these guys.”

She nodded, and they ran towards the fighting sounds, to come across a group of soldiers joined by a dwarf with no beard(?) as well as a bald elf who kind of looked like Fantasy Tom Hardy- the first non-humans Magnus had seen since he’d got here besides the ‘demons.’ They quickly joined the fight, Magnus slotting in near the dwarf, who shot him a sly look and then went back to puncturing ‘demons’ with his crossbow. It felt like those first battles with Carey by his side. 

Once the fight had finished, he realized the big problem nearby he’d ignored when he’d Rushed In™. There was a rift right next to them, about to spew out more evil shit. Before they had time to panic, however, Fantasy Tom Hardy grabbed Magnus’ forearm, aiming it at the rift. In a flash of green light, the thing disappeared, leaving them all bewildered save for Fantasy Tom Hardy, who was smug. 

“Uh….” Magnus started, confused “What exactly did you just do?”

“I did nothing.” Fantasy Tom Hardy replied smugly, “The credit is yours.”

“Uh...so I closed that thing?? How???” Magnus was confused. 

“Whatever magic opened the breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand.” FTH explained, as if it was obvious “I theorized that the mark may be able to close the rifts caused in the Breach’s wake...and it appears I was correct.” Magnus was starting to get a Lucas vibe from Fantasy Tom Hardy - one that pushed him further into Fantasy Star Trek distrust of him. But for now he was just annoying. 

“Meaning it could close the breach itself.” Cassandra interjected, hopeful.

“It’s possible.” Fantasy Tom Hardy replied, equivocal, before turning back to face Magnus. “It seems you hold the key to our salvation.” Holy shit he got magic powers for once?? Important magic powers?? Oh, Taako and Merle were gonna FLIP.

“Good to Know!” The beardless dwarf chimed in from the sidelines “I thought we’d be ass deep in demons forever.” He strode over to the rest, face still holding a sly smile. “Varric Tethras.” He introduced. “Rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong.” OOOH this was a good dwarf. Magnus liked this dwarf here. A goodgoodgood dwarf man who was more than somewhat competent at what his class entailed. Varric winked at Cassandra, who was less than amused. 

“Hail and well met! Nice crossbow by the way.” Was all Magnus could think to say. Varric noticeably perked up at that, clearly proud.

“Ah, Isn’t she? Bianca and I have been through a lot.” He stared at the weapon over his shoulder almost...lovingly.   
“Oh, you named it Bianca. Cool my dude. Love that.”

“Course I did. She’ll be great company in the valley, you know.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“Absolutely not!” Cassandra protested, moving around Magnus so as to get reeeeeal intimidatingly close to Varric “Your help is appreciated, Varric, but-”

“Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker?” Varric interrupted, because he must have had a death wish “Your soldiers aren’t in control anymore. You need me.” His grin got super sly.

“Ugh.” Cassandra scoffed, but retreated.

“My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions” Fantasy Tom Hardy inserted himself into the conversation, “I am pleased to see you still live.”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………………………………..Thank you?”

“He means ‘I kept that mark from killing you while you slept’.” Varric translated.

“Oh. Thanks.” Magnus replied dumbly.

“Thank me if we manage to close the breach without killing you in the process.” Magnus did not understand this man. “Cassandra, you should know, the magic involved here is unlike any I have seen.” (yeah same) “Your prisoner is no mage, indeed, I find it difficult to imagine anyone having such power.”

“Understood. We must get to the forward camp quickly” Cassandra nodded and they started heading off.

“Well,” Varric began, as he and Magnus started to follow Cassandra and Solas, “Bianca’s excited.”

They kept going further up the mountainside, fighting demons along the way. It was easier now that they had four people, rather than just two warriors. Looking at Solas’ magic usage, Magnus realized that the man used magic unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Sure, there were some similar spells like ray of frost, but even then he used them in such a different way from Taako or Merle. They were slightly less damage dealing, but he fired them off one after another, waiting at most a minute before he used them again. Taako made big splashes with his magic, but only ever used each spell once. And Merle...well Merle just did his own thing. Magnus thought all this through as he closed a rift on his own. 

“Nice job.” Varric congratulated with just a hint of laughter. “By the way, love the outfit. Not your average robe, love the cute bears.”

“Oh, uh, thanks. Not usually what I wear, but I think it’s a look.” Magnus grinned in response.

“Kinda makes it hard to believe you could be guilty with all the soft fleecy paws.”

“I hope the prosecution feels the same.” Cassandra mumbled.

Finally, they reached a camp - really just another bridge. Magnus hadn’t fought grunt enemies in a long time. He was kind of winded. Still, he strode over to where Leliana stood with a grumpy looking man in some sort of religious garb. 

“Ah. Here they come.” Declared the man.

“Hail and well met...uh...my dudes.” Magnus answered, suddenly realizing that probably wasn’t the right entrance to make.

“You made it.” Leliana breezed past the greeting. “Chancellor Roderick and I-”

“Yes, yes, we all know.” Magnus didn’t know but what he did know now was that he hated this dude. Chancellor Roder-dick turned towards Cassandra and sneered “As grand chancellor of the chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution.”

“Order me?” Cassandra seethed, “You are a glorified clerk- A bureaucrat!” Yes, GET HIM CASSANDRA, thought Magnus.

“And you are a thug - but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry.” Oh, this was an asshole. 

“We serve the most holy, chancellor, as you well know.” Leliana chimed in. 

“Justinia is DEAD!” Roder-dick exclaimed. “We must elect a new divine and obey her orders on the matter.”

“Uh, hey, prisoner on the mic here! Isn’t closing the breach kind of more pressing than my execution?”

“You brought this on us in the first place, you cretin!” Roder-dick shot back before turning on Cassandra again “Call a retreat, seeker. Our position here is hopeless.”

“We can stop this before it’s too late.” Cassandra was determined. Magnus loved it.  
“How?” Roder-dick implored “You won’t survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers.”

“We must get to the temple. It’s the quickest route.”

“But not the safest.” Leliana reminded. “Our forces can serve as a distraction while we go through the mountains.”

“We lost contact with our squad on that path.” Cassandra argued. “It’s too risky.”

“Listen to me.” Roder-dick was still pushing “Abandon this now before more lives are lost!” No dice, The breach expanded an inch, and Magnus’s hand hurt some more. They turned to him, as if just now remembering he was there.

“How do you think we should proceed?” Cassandra asked. 

“Mountain. If that squad’s alive, we should find them.” Magnus squared his jaw, and Cassandra blinked.

“Okay.”

As they left for the temple, Cassandra instructed Leliana to bring everyone up from the valley for safety. And they were on their way. 

Eventually, they came to an old mining complex, filled with more ‘demons’ and a room with so much treasure Taako would have had a heart attack. They found the squad fighting a few wraiths, and Magnus managed to save them with his magic green hand, sending them back down with the other soldiers after the wraiths had been defeated. Eventually, they made it up to the temple. As they did, Magnus started to feel a headache coming on. He...did he remember something out of this place?

“That is what is left of the temple of sacred ashes. That’s where our soldiers found you. They say a woman was behind you. No one knows who she was.” Magnus could tell by the look in Cassandra’s eye...she had a good idea who that woman was.

He didn’t comment. He had to get this done. They walked in silence between mutilated corpses. Until they came across a spot where the roof had caved in. They looked up at the giant hole in the sky.

“The breach is a long way up.” Varric noted. It was.

“You’re here! Thank the maker!” Exclaimed Leliana behind them. 

“Leliana, have your men take positions around the temple.” Cassandra ordered. Magnus kept staring at the rift in front of them, directly below the breach.

“This is your chance to end this, are you ready?” 

“I guess.” Magnus shrugged.

“This rift is the first and the most important.” Solas chimed in for the first time in a while. “Seal it, you may seal the breach.”

“Then let’s find a way down. And be careful.” Cassandra added as an afterthought. 

As they made their way down, Magnus kept getting headaches, and kept...hearing things. Snippets of conversation. 

“Help me!” cried an old woman. 

“Bring forth the sacrifice.” Grumbled a man or...was he a man?

“What are we hearing?” asked Cassandra. Oh good. He wasn’t crazy. “That sounded like Justinia’s voice just now...and that other voice…….”

“Most likely the person who created the breach.” Answered Solas.

They passed by a stalagmite of red ore, which Varric eyed suspiciously.

“You know that’s red lyrium, Seeker.” He whispered to Cassandra, who nodded.

“I see it, Varric.” She replied matter-of-factly.

“Well, what’s it doing down here?” Varric was genuinely worried now, it seemed. 

“Perhaps magic seeped under the temple and corrupted the lyrium beneath?” Solas hypothesized.

“Well, whatever you do, don’t touch it. That stuff’s evil.” Varric visibly shuddered. Nervous wasn’t a good look on the dwarf. 

“What’s red lyrium exactly?” Magnus asked, catching up to Varric. 

“Nothing you wanna know, pal.” Varric answered, a little coolly. 

Okay, clearly not something Varric wanted to talk about. All cool.

They neared the center of the room and the rift, walking carefully. Magnus’s hand glowed of its own volition. Justinia’s voice echoed from the rift again, pleading for help.

Magnus’ own voice -not emanating from his body- asked: “Uh...What’s going on here?” Cassandra’s eyes widened in shock. 

“That was your voice. Most holy called out to you but-” She didn’t get to finish the thought because right then the portal erupted, showing them a scene in which Magnus burst through the door to a figure capturing Justinia. 

“Run while you can, warn them!” Justinia cried out.

“We have an intruder” growled the figure. “Kill him.”

As the scene faded, Cassandra moved at Magnus with renewed anger.

“You were there.” She sounded slightly betrayed. “Who attacked- and the divine is she-” she shook her head from the spinning questions until she landed on one. “Was this vision true? What are we seeing?”

“Ca…” Yeah, first names weren’t gonna fly here. “Seeker I swear I don’t know. I don’t remember anything. Hell, I don’t even know where we are on a map. All I know is from after you woke me up, and like five hours before that? I am so sorry, but you need to believe me.” 

Cassandra nodded, not satisfied with the answer but at least trusting Magnus after fighting by his side all day. 

“This rift is closed...but not sealed.” Solas mumbled to himself before announcing “I believe that with the mark, we can open the rift, and close it properly. However, opening the rift is likely to attract attention from the other side.”

“That means demons. Are you ready?” Cassandra called up to the surrounding soldiers, who drew swords and bows in response. 

Magnus faced the rift, lifting his glowing hand to engage with it in a transfer of energy, trying not to flinch from the lightning coming off of him. In response, the rift shot off a burst of light, one which flashed into the shape of a ‘demon’.

“It’s a pride demon! And a pretty big one too!” Varric shouted, shooting at the beast with Bianca. The arrows glanced off of some barrier. “Fuck!” Varric exclaimed. 

“I will take down the barrier, attack after me!” Solas shouted, after casting winter’s grasp, which did nothing, much to the amusement of the demon.

“We cannot do anything until that barrier is taken down, truly?” Leliana cried, running towards them.

“No, but I have an idea how to do it.” Magnus answered, taking his hand forward and transferring more energy from the rift. The demon writhed in pain, its barrier falling enough so that Cassandra could run forward with her greatsword, sticking it in the side of the demon with ferocity. She pulled back, hitting the thing again, but missing. 

Unfortunately, this also brought her within smacking distance of the demon. It pounded down on her with its fist, and she got thrown back a little, winded. Just in the nick of time, the archers rained down arrows upon the demon, which glanced off its pretty little hide. 

Varric, recovering from that initial embarrassment, re-aimed Bianca, “I’ll show you how it’s done!” Another hail of arrows, this one hitting the damn beast. His effort was compounded by another unsuccessful winter’s grasp, but at least it dealt a little bit of damage this time. 

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Varric grinned.

Leliana cut into the revelry, firing off her own attack at the beast with her shortbow. It just barely missed. 

Magnus ran right from behind her, finally getting to do what he was good at. He cut into the unharmed leg of the beast in two quick swipes. One easily slid in, the other bounced off a rock and left him without a weapon. Luckily, Cassandra was right there to pick up his slack. She slashed at the thing on her own, severely wounding the creature. 

Seeing it was under attack, the demon swung mindlessly at the source of its most pain, Cassandra. First, with its fists, flailing at her and catching her slightly on the down-swing. Then with its vine-like extenders, coming close to killing her but being blocked and falling prone when Magnus came at it with his shield, all that he had left. 

“Thank you.” 

“No biggie, bud.” He grinned at her. 

“You should get your sword, don’t you think?”

“Oh, yeah.” Before he could, they were forced back under the shield by a flurry of arrows, none of which landed. 

“Who trained these archers?” Asked Magnus.

“Leliana.” 

“Hey!” Leliana cried indignantly, “I can hear you know!”

“Pipe down, guys, we have a battle to win!” Varric shouted, launching another flurry of arrows down at the demon and piercing its hide.

Finally, Solas tried something other than Winter’s Grasp, instead using heat to draw out the enemy. It didn’t work. 

Leliana tried once more to injure the demon with arrows, landing just as Varric’s had. Only to discover that right after she hit the demon, it recast its barrier, and two more appeared at its side - smaller, thank Istus. 

Magnus focused on just getting rid of the barrier, dealing a bit of damage with the pain his mark caused the demon as he ran to get his sword.

Cassandra picked up the slack, slashing at the demon’s hide until Solas called them back to avoid damage from arrows and the next attack he would make (hopefully.) The pride demon managed to get up, but not before his assailants had escaped. The subordinates tried on their own to get Magnus, just missing. Cassandra downed a healing potion just as the archers tried again to pierce its hide, to no avail, Varric and Bianca once again showing them up. Even Solas was useful, nearly getting rid of the subordinates and chomping down on the pride demon with Storm. As soon as that attack finished, Magnus and Cassandra rushed back in, swords extended, yelling a battle cry. Leliana’s arrows beat them to it, nicking into the necks of the subordinates, Magnus able to kill them off with a couple of gutting blows while Cassandra handled the demon, sword seeming to glow with Andraste’s light as it pierced the beast’s hide. 

Finally, the beast was weak enough that the attack of the archers could get through, and somehow, they landed the killing three arrows on the neck of the Pride demon. It fell to the ground, spewing black ichorous blood.

Directly after he sealed the rift anew, Magnus Burnsides passed the fuck out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, these early chapters are gonna be a bit by-the-books in terms of dialogue, because you have less choice with how you wanna do it and the only one to stand out is Magnus. Sorry. Also, in case you haven't noticed, I'm using DND rules for all major battles, which is why Solas is so useless in this one. The boy rolled bad on his d20's.   
> Thanks again to Dim_Shim for beta-ing and letting me make so many Tom Hardy jokes.


	3. Magnus' Onesie Remains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus wakes up, talks to some civilians, gets really uncomfortable, and misses a badass cinematic cutscene opening. Also, the writer can't go two seconds without wanting to high-five the heck out of Cassandra holy /shit/ i'm gay for her.

This time - thank Istus - Magnus awoke with (most of) his memories intact, falling into consciousness to the sound of soldiers fighting outside. His onesie was filthy, and long-melted snow had seeped into the fleece, but it was still cozy as fuck as per Garfield’s guarantee. His hand, still marked, ached a little, but it was nowhere near as bad. He rolled over in the cot he’d been lain in, to observe the rest of the room.

It was nice. Kinda reminded him of his old house in Raven’s roost, all covered in pelts and entirely made of wood. The door of it opened to reveal a young elven woman, who, upon realizing Magnus was awake, promptly dropped the crate she’d been holding. Magnus quickly sat up to try and help, wincing a bit from a back-ache, but the elf waved him off before he could get out of the bed.

“I didn’t know you were awake, I swear!” She almost seemed scared of him, which, okay, big guy. But like... he was a big guy in a onesie.

“Uh...No biggie?” Magnus still didn’t get what was so scary about him.

“I-It’s just… they say you saved us. The breach stopped growing, just like the mark on your hand.” Aha. Just some good ol’ fashioned hero worship. Totally not uncomfy. At all. “Everyone talks about it. It’s all anyone has talked about for the last three days!”

“So, like. Mission successful? Are we all safe?” Something have a simple solution for once? 

“The Breach is still in the sky but that’s what they say.” The elf started picking up the fallen crate, and Magnus got out of bed to help. She flinched a bit at his nearness but smiled weakly as they both stood. He gave a thumbs up and a half smile. Suddenly, the elf’s eyes widened, as if remembering something.

“Oh! Lady Cassandra will want to know you’re awake. She said to notify her ‘At Once!’” Somehow Magnus understood that fear a bit more. 

“Where is she? I’ll just head over now.” As much as Magnus already loved Cassandra, he knew this elf didn’t deserve whatever harshness the punishment for him wandering off would get her.

“She’s in the Chantry, with the Chancellor.” As she answered, the elf started to leave before suddenly turning back with a vaguely concerned look on her face. “Are you sure you should go in there wearing that, my lord? It seems to be a bit….flimsy.” She indicated the onesie, a mix of confusion and intense attempt at not-offending.

“Call me Magnus, and this is sorta all I got.” Magnus shrugged, “Though I would like some boots. My feet got all blistery.”

“There may be a pair somewhere around here, my lord. But be quick about getting dressed, as Lady Cassandra was very clear that you should get to the Chantry as soon as possible.” And with that, the elf left Magnus to find some hopefully fitting boots. 

Looking around the room, Magnus found the boots. They were a little tight on the toes, but better than pajama footies. He also found some notes, but they didn’t really interest him. There was also a crow in a cage, which was slightly more interesting. Magnus left the cabin to be met with a line of 20-some soldiers, all saluting him, in front of a sizable crowd of people, looking at him with a sense of awe. This totally wasn’t gonna be an uncomfy reminder. Totally.

“That’s him. That’s the Herald of Andraste. They said when he came out of the Fade, Andraste herself was watching over him.” Magnus could just barely hear a whispered conversation from the crowd.

“Hush! We shouldn’t disturb him.” Answered a whisper. Magnus tried to do a cheesy grin and finger guns in the direction of the whispers to assure that he wasn’t that guy, but it didn’t really work. As he passed by, he did hear the next question, which gave him a sense of unease if he’d need to keep working with the rest.

“Why did Lady Cassandra have him in chains? I thought Seekers knew everything.” Ohhh shit. Before he had time to try and set things right, he realized he had another problem.

He had no fucking idea where the Chantry was...or even what it was come to think of it. He looked around for at least one not-totally-in-awe-and-also-terrified face to ask directions from, and noticed a balding shopkeep near a big-ass wooden gate. 

“Uh, Hail and well met!” Magnus waved awkwardly. The Shop-keep looked a bit surprised at the greeting.

“I believe Seeker Cassandra was hoping to speak with you. She’s in the Chantry.” He didn’t actually greet back. 

“Yeah, thanks dude. Uh...Where exactly would the Chantry be? I’m sorta lost here.”

“Oh. Um. Go down that path, take a left, and it’s that giant building at the end of the road.”

“Nice. Thanks, dude. What’s your name by the way?”

“Seggrit, My lord.”

“Nice. I’m Magnus. See you around?” Hopefully rustic hospitality would be enough to shift the public view of him from ‘all important savior’ to ‘guy I can guide around and maybe explain where the hell he is”

“Uh, yes. I suppose.” Answered Seggrit, confused as the human in fluffy bear regalia and tiny boots walked off, waving.

As Magnus kept walking, his training with Carey kicked in, and his listening skills parsed out some more gossip. Apparently, there were still little rifts all over, and he was basically the only one able to do anything against them still, which, hey, same with the Relics, right? Also, the residents of...wherever he was...had been abandoned by the Chantry, especially since all of the ‘Grand Clerics’ - Magnus wondered what kind of baseline they used for ‘Grand’ given that his only cleric experience was Merle - were dead. Also Andraste was really important to these people. 

When he finally reached the Chantry, the main hall was empty. This made it much easier for him to hear the argument going on inside a side-room as he entered.

“Have you gone completely mad?” Ah. Nice. Roder-dick. “He should be taken to Val Royeaux immediately, to be tried by whomever becomes Divine.” This was gonna be great. Fuck.

“I do not believe he is guilty.” Awwww Cassandra believed in him! That’s sweet.

“The prisoner failed, Seeker. The breach is still in the sky. For all you know, he intended it this way!” Roder-dick implored.

“I do not believe that.” Cassandra wouldn’t move an inch.

“It is not your decision. Your duty is to serve the Chantry.”

“My duty is to serve the principles on which the Chantry was founded, Chancellor. As is yours.” If Magnus had ever heard a mic drop in his LIFE it was this statement. He had to get in there and witness this epic fucking takedown.

Unfortunately, Roder-dick noticed him enter and immediately pointed at him.

“Chain him.” Kinky. “I want him prepared for travel to the capital for trial.” Not kinky. Also bad on the world-saving front. The guards started towards Magnus, but were stopped as Cassandra held up a hand.

“Disregard that and leave us.” Savage.

“You walk a dangerous line, Seeker.” Roder-dick seethed. 

“The Breach is stable, but it is still a threat. I will not ignore it.” Cassandra met Roder-dick’s fury with stone cold determination.

“Listen, I get I’m suspicious but like...I did almost die. Like I am trying to help you.” Magnus was getting a bit tired of this routine. 

“Keyword almost.” Roder-dick sneered. “Quite convenient for you.”

“Have some sort of regard, Chancellor. He is not the only problem we face.” Not quite the backup he wanted but good enough.

“Indeed.” Leliana interjected. Magnus jumped a little, having not realized that she was in the room. “Someone was behind the explosion at the Conclave. Someone Most Holy did not expect. Perhaps they died with the others –” She stopped and looked pointedly at Roder-dick. “Or perhaps they have allies who yet live.” Roder-dick’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“I am a suspect?” He asked, offended.

“You, and many others.” Leliana added coldly.

“But not the prisoner.” Roder-dick pointed at Magnus.

“I heard the voices in the temple. The divine called to him for help.” Cassandra answered.

“So, his survival, that thing on his hand, his odd clothing - all a coincidence?”

“Or providence. The Maker sent him to us in our darkest hour.” Waiwaiwaiwait. Okay, yeah, Magnus had some weird past he didn’t get yet. And he sorta just showed up here. And he could handle incredibly dangerous and thrall-inducing relics without getting tempted-too much. And he had a thing on his hand which conveniently let him close tears in reality or whatever. But divine providence? Like maybe Istus could have a hand in this. Maybe. But wouldn’t she have sent the other dos horny boys with him? Like- she knew they were best as a team, right? 

“Uh...hold up. You don’t....really think I’m some kind of ‘big destiny chosen one’ right? Right?” Cassandra shrugged lightly.

“We are all subject to the will of the Maker, whether we wish it or not. No matter what you are, or what you believe, you are exactly what we needed when we needed it.” This was absolutely not the right time to mention he didn’t know what or who the fuck The Maker was. Like he knew it was a god but there were like 50 of those guys and this one just. Made stuff?

“Exactly.” Leliana agreed with Cassandra, nodding, “The Breach remains and your mark is our only hope of closing it.” Roder-dick looked about to explode. 

“This Isn’t your place to decide.” He practically shrieked. 

And then Cassandra turned to him with a look on her face of the sheerest determination that Magnus had ever seen on any face. Ever. She got super close to Roder-dick, like super close and she poked him in the chest, heaving a giant book onto the table and saying the following in the coolest, most steely voice you could possibly imagine:

“Do you know what this is, Chancellor? A writ from the Divine, granting us authority to act. As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn. We will close the Breach, we will find those responsible, and we will restore order with or without your approval.” Had Magnus not been scared of how painfully Cassandra would hurt him if he did so, he would have cheered and hyped the fuck out of this expert take down. Needless to say RODERDICK FUCKIN DIED THAT DAY. Okay, he didn’t. He did tuck his tail between his legs and run out of the room, though. 

“Our directive” Leliana began explaining to Magnus, “Is to rebuild the Inquisition of old. Find those who will stand against chaos. However...” She sighed, facing Cassandra “We aren’t even close to ready. We have no leader, no resources, no numbers. Now we don’t even have Chantry support!” 

“I know.” Cassandra nodded, “But we have no choice. We must act now.” She turned to Magnus as she finished “With you at our side.”

“Right, cool, cool. Uh...what exactly is the Inquisition of old?” Magnus’ voice pitched up towards the end, he wasn’t quite sure if he should know this or not.

“It existed before the Chantry. People banded together in an effort to restore order to a world gone mad.” Cool. Vague as fuck but like sounded epic. 

“Wow. Definitely did not expect that when I woke up yesterday.”

“Yeah. Neither did we.” Leliana smiled a bit at that.

“But, if it’ll help, I’ll sign up.” With the utmost composure and dignity one can have wearing a fleecey bear onesie, Magnus strode up to shake Cassandra’s hand.

Magnus didn’t see what happened a few hours later, but months from now it would be seen by all of Faerun. They would see Leliana closing a large book with a sun glyph on it, turning to Cassandra and two others who Magnus hasn’t met yet, knowing what they must do but not quite sure that they must do it now. They would see Leliana sending off her ravens, doing her job as spymaster, Varric smiling as he watched them fly off. They would see a scarred, blond man, nailing the Inquisition announcement to the wall. They would see Roder-dick, looking on in both anger at being undermined and genuine concern, however unfounded. They would see the part Magnus was there for, Cassandra walking up the steps to meet with him and the others, signaling the soldiers on the Chantry ramparts to unfurl the inquisition flag, taking one last glance at the breach before heading inside, to get to work.

But if we stayed, looking at the breach, we might be reminded of how Magnus got here. We might even ask how the folks at the Bureau are dealing with his absence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you know how hard it is to write a single Cassandra line without just saying savage at the end?????? very hard. Thanks again to my good friend Dim_Shim for beta-ing and stopping me from making Cassandra say 'fuck' also for writing NEXT WEEK'S CHAPTER holy shit i'm excited, are you excited, guys? I'm excited.


	4. Angus cries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Magnus is busy in a strange new world, we take a look over at the moon base. Angus gets the sniffles, cranky boys are woken up, and Lucretia has many backup plans. Not much action, just a lot of emotions for this one.

Angus McDonald, world’s greatest detective, got nightmares. It wasn’t something he was very proud of, as it made all the adults treat him like a little kid. And yes, He knew he only 10 years old, but he was very smart, thank you very much, and he had dealt with a lot worse than a spooky dream. But sometimes even Angus got too freaked by his own dreams, and sometimes he needed someone to help him get back to sleep.

Angus was aware that the group calling themselves the Tres Horny Boys (which he was never allowed to say out loud again) were odd, that they did not conduct themselves around him the way people were supposed to be around kids. But the THB recognized that Angus was smart, and while they maybe pushed him around (literally and figuratively) a bit much, it was a breath of fresh air compared to being handled like a delicate piece of glass.

So here Angus was, in his PJ’s on the elevator going to the rooms of the THB. This was not the first time this had happened, but nearly every time it did Angus went to Magnus. This wasn’t due to having a favorite of the three, but practicality. Taako, while only needing to meditate, was very grouchy during the night and hated being interrupted. Merle would be grouchy and only helped in making sure Angus stayed up with stories of children who wandered at nighttime. Magnus understood that sometimes you just need someone close by and a warm glass of milk after a bad dream, and was pretty calm when sleepy.

The elevator dinged, slowly opening its doors to the living room area they all seemed to share, as Angus walked towards Magnus’ room. However, he noticed a light that he had never seen before. Walking to Magnus’ door, Angus gasped as he realized why.

It was a white light emanating from the ground, with streaks of green moving throughout. It looked like a crack in the floor, four feet long, but the light coming out of this crack seemed much more ethereal than natural. 

Angus’ eyes widened. He had never seen anything like this, and while it didn’t seem to be doing anything, it’s mere presence could be a danger. The Director had mentioned those nasty Red Robes, could this be a point of entry for them into the base? 

But then Angus looked up to the door, and saw it was open. Moving carefully around the crack, Angus walked into Magnus’ room, slowly peering in.

Angus trembled as he said, “S-S-Sir? A-Are you there? Magnus if this is a goof it’s not f-funny, I’m really scared right now.” Tears started to well up as he heard no response, “Y-You know The Director will be really upset if you guys make me cry, Carey and Killian too.”

A tear streaked down his face as his brain put together what was the likeliest chain of events. The bed was rumpled and the blankets were on the ground in a way that showed Magnus had gotten out. Angus already knew that Magnus sleep-walked, he once had come down to see him walking into a wall repeatedly. That, coupled with the fact that Magnus never locked his door (Taako would break it if he couldn’t get in quickly) meant the most reasonable assumption to make was that Magnus had fallen through the crack, which meant it was some kind of portal, which meant it was at least one way to an unknown destination. Angus, still crying, ran back to the elevator, slamming the button to The Director’s floor.

The moment the door opened Angus ran, rushing to The Director’s office, opening it with so much force he fell backwards. Voices from the office stopped as Angus got right back up and went straight towards The Director, not even noticing who else was in the room.   
“Madame Director, Magnus is gone, h-he’s gone and I don’t know where he is and there’s some kinda light and-”   
“Angus” The Director interrupted, “What are you doing--no wait, what are you talking about?”  
Carey’s voice popped in, “Yeah little guy, what’s going on? What do you mean Magnus is gone?”   
It was then that Angus turned to realize that Carey and Noelle were there, worry on their faces.   
The Director moved out of her seat, crouching down to Angus, saying, “Angus, you need to take a breather right now. I know you’re worried for Magnus, we are too, but we can’t fix this if we don’t know what’s going on, alright?”  
Angus gradually slowed his breathing, still shaking a bit as he answered, “Ok.”

The Director stood up as she asked, “Now, what exactly happened?”

Angus straightened his back, looking up at all three women, as he explained, “S-So, I had a nightmare and usually when that happens I go over to Magnus’ room, but when I went down just now there was a-a crack? I’m not really sure but it’s right in front of his door and Magnus wasn’t in there so I assume that this is some kind of portal that Magnus fell through.” 

The Director’s eyebrows had been steadily rising during this entire explanation, and were very nearly at her hairline by the end of it.   
“Angus, are Taako and Merle awake?”  
“No.”  
“Carey, go get Killian, Noelle, come with me, we need to secure the area before anymore boys fall through. Angus, I assume you won’t be able to go back to sleep anyways, get properly dressed and come back down to the Reclaimers dormitory.”

Carey left with Angus turning to the door before The Director said, “Angus, one moment, I have one last thing to do before we leave.”   
“But Director-”  
“This will only take a second, I swear.” The Director clapped, “Davenport!” 

Davenport emerged from a side door, still in uniform and not a hair out of place “Davenport!” He replied.

“We have a code maroon on our hands, have security check all rooms except the Reclaimers dormitory, have everyone informed we have a possible breach and to be wary of any magical abnormalities. Make sure Garfield checks that none of his wares have been stolen.”

“Davenport!” Davenport gasped, scurrying out of the room to somehow inform people of the situation.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Angus rushed out the door before The Director finished her sentence, going as quickly as he could over to the standard dormitories for those who didn’t do usual fieldwork. Unlike most of the other members of the Bureau, however, Angus got his own room, mostly on the basis that any adult sharing a room with a 10-year-old would be weird. 

Angus barely opened his door before crashing into it, stumbling in. The room was small but pristine, with little out of place except for the bed, still unmade, and his desk, littered with notes and trinkets mainly concerning magic. Angus ran through all of it as he went to his closet, grabbing his standard white dress shirt, bright blue sweater vest, brown shorts, and blue flat cap. There wasn’t enough time to finish it off with his usual red bowtie, but it would do.

A little more composed, Angus searched for his wand and hand crossbow. While he fully believed that Noelle and The Director were more than capable of handling anything, if baddies came out it would be less than optimal for one member of the fight to be completely defenseless. He grabbed his wand, which was always placed by his nightstand in case Taako decided to have a spur of the moment class session, but took longer locating the crossbow. To be honest, Angus hadn't used the hand crossbow in a while, not since he got to the Bureau, and especially not after he started his lessons with Taako. Angus finally found the crossbow buried under a pile of notes on the different schools of magic. He stashed it under the sweater vest in such a way that you would have to look to see the outline of it. Better safe than sorry, right? 

Angus ran at a less intense pace back to the elevator, noticing that the memo was spreading as guards walked in pairs and were talking in concerned whispers. Once reaching the elevator, he slammed the button to the Reclaimers dormitory, the soothing elevator music doing nothing to calm his nerves.

The doors opened, Angus running over to Taako’s room. Angus stopped in front of the door before he could slam into it, remembering that Taako almost always has the room magically locked. He knocked three times. No response. He knocked harder, four times now. He knocked as hard as he could, yelling “SIR PLEASE OPEN THE--” The door swung open as a furious Taako looked for the perpetrator, having to look down before seeing Angus, glower slightly lessening.   
“Angus” Taako started, “What have I--”   
“Sir I’m sorry.” Angus interrupted, words spilling over one another, “But Magnus is missing and there’s some sort crack in the floor and--”  
“Woah woah slow down kemosabe, what do you talking about? Why would Magnus leave?”  
“No Sir I mean I think the crack--”  
“What crack?”  
“Just look.” Angus grabbed Taako by the arm and dragged him over to where Noelle and The Director were examining at the crack, small polls and caution tape already around it. Angus brought them both to the edge of where the caution tape was to get a better look.  
“Oh shit that’s not a good thing is it? Like I know my magical portals and that is not a Taako approved portal.”  
The Director turned to Taako, “Do you have any idea of when Magnus may have fallen through?”  
Taako shrugged “Hell if I know, he’s pretty early to hit the hay and I only came in like, 2 hours ago.”

It was at this moment that the sound of a door opened behind the group, as Merle, still groggy from waking up from the noise, waddled over towards them as he said, “You know, it’s really rude to go around making a racket at this time of the night, I thought we established to shut up after 12 o’clock.”

The Director finally turned her body away from the crack to fully address Merle, “Merle, I’m afraid that this issue is more serious than getting some shut eye. Magnus has gone missing, and this crack in the floor is of a magical essence that I can’t pin down. Due to this oddity, there’s a chance it is some sort of natural magical anomaly that has concentrated in this room. Merle, your input would be best if that is the case. However, due to the importance of the Bureau, and the fact this was right in front of one of our Reclaimers rooms, this looks much more in line with an attack.”   
Merle eyed the crack, frowning, “That doesn't seem like any sort of thing Pan would allow to ‘naturally occur’, hold on let me grab my Extreme Teen Bible to make sure.” Merle went back to his room to grab his bible and, presumably, his soulwood arm.

Suddenly, a horrible noise started to come out of the crack, as the ends of it extending out of the caution tape. The noise distracted all of them, just enough so that no one noticed the spreading of the crack until it reached Angus, who had been the closest to the caution tape. Angus felt the ground under him give out as he started to fall into the light. Time seemed to slow. Angus heard shouts from all the adults, but his mind had already realized his mistake. The Director and Noelle were too far away, on the other side of where the crack had ended. Taako had been walking back to his room before the noise had caused him to turn. As Angus fell, the last thing he saw was Taako, his face etched in horror, reaching out to Angus before his vision was consumed by white light and soon after, darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo so this is Dim_shim and this is the first chapter I wrote, hoped you guys liked it. It was really fun looking up the essentials of what everyone thinks Angus should wear, so hope that stayed faithful. If you liked it don't forget to send love over to @adrunkgiraffe for being super cool and who started writing this in the first place.


	5. Cullen, Josephine, and a shit ton of exposition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I kinda wanna do a Taz-style episode summary with these but I can't come up with a good one. Magnus gets fitted for a new outfit (finally), Josephine and Solas give him some exposition, and Varric comes up with a great nickname.

As they walked down the hallway, Magnus had a weird nervousness in his chest, echoed all too well by the weird feeling in his hand. This would be his first meeting with the rest of the advisors, and he was kind of itching to step down from the whole ‘exalted hero’ thing and just start helping. He slowed a bit to check in on the mark, examining it a bit more closely than he had before. It wasn’t pulsing anymore, just sort of giving off a strange...energy. Sort of like from a relic or...something else….he stopped a bit, phased out by the static that came his way at that thought. Cassandra stopped up short, a concerned look on her face. 

“Are you okay?” She asked, noting how he was holding up his hand, “Does your mark trouble you?”

“I’m fine, just lost in thought” Magnus tried for a reassuring grin, which was met with doubt, “Mostly just wondering how it showed up? I guess.” Cassandra nodded in understanding, much to Magnus’ relief. He really didn’t wanna lie, but he also really didn’t think the static thing would go over very well. 

“We will try to find out.”

“Thanks, dude.” Cassandra gave him a confused look at the use of the word ‘dude’, but didn’t comment. 

“What’s important is that your mark and the Breach are now stable, and we have time. Solas believes that a second attempt might succeed – provided the mark has more power. The same level of power used to open the Breach in the first place.” She pauses, frowning a bit. “Unfortunately, that much is a bit...difficult to come by.”

“Should-be-impossible power retrieval? Sounds right up our alley.” Magnus gives her a cheesey grin, which she actually returns a little, a victory in itself. 

“Hold onto that humor, we’ll need it.” Wow. Cassandra made a joke. A real-ass joke. This is amazing thought Magnus, and it was. 

As Magnus continued to parse the amazingness that was Cassandra Using Dry Wit, they entered a large, round room, occupied by Leliana, two people Magnus hadn’t met yet, and a couple of guards. One of the people Magnus hadn’t met, a tall, broad-shouldered, blond man with a small scar running across his mouth and a coat-hood riddled with feathers, came up and gave him a firm handshake. The kind that you use for business. Way too formal. It was weird.  
“This is Cullen.” Explained Cassandra, “He is the leader of the Inquisition’s forces.” Cullen grimaced at that.

“What’s left of them, at least.” He complained, and Magnus winced a bit. He didn’t regret going to help the lost squad, but he probably could have considered a bit more what some extra help could do. “And I fear we might lose more as we go on.” 

“But we should try not to, right?” Magnus tried to keep afloat. 

“Fair enough. I look forward to working with you.” 

“Same with you, uh...Cullen.”

Cassandra cleared her throat, gesturing to the other stranger, a dark-skinned woman with a kind, sincere face and soft curls of dark hair tied back in a low bun. She was dressed in a sort of golden poof of a dress, but, like, more tasteful than that? Despite the generally kind attitude of her eyes, she looked at Magnus’ onesie with a sense of concern and possible disgust.

“This is lady Josephine Montilyet, our ambassador and chief diplomat.” 

“I’ve heard much.” Josephine also shook his hand, more lightly than Cullen had “A pleasure to meet you at last.” She spared another cursory glance at the onesie, but stepped back without comment. For now.

“And of course, you’ve met Sister Leliana.” Cassandra gestured towards Leliana, who gave a nod rather than a handshake.

“My position here involves a certain amount of…”

“Sneaky stuff?” Magnus guessed from how she’d been able to blend into the room during the confrontation with Roder-dick.

“Yes, essentially.” She smiled at the odd turn of phrase. 

“Nice.” Magnus gave her a thumbs up. “Well, hail and well met, guys. I heard from Cassandra that you have a plan to take down this breach thing?” The mood of the room shifted as soon as Magnus said the word ‘plan,’ all of them turning towards the war table in the middle. 

“As I said before, your mark needs more power before we can try and close the Breach for good.” Cassandra started a thought.

“Which we could get if we approached the rebel mages for help.” Wait...rebel mages? What was that supposed to mean?

“The Templars could serve just as good.” Cullen argued back. Weren’t the templars the people Cassandra worked with?

“We need more power, Commander.” Cassandra retorted “enough magic poured into that breach-”

“Could destroy us for good! Templars could suppress the breach, weaken it so-”

“Speculation. How exactly do you plan to attack a rip in the fade with a sword?” She had a point. Swords aren’t really good with….mending things. 

“I was a Templar, Leliana, I know-”

“Unfortunately.” Josephine’s even voice cut through the argument “Neither group wants to speak with us. The Chantry has denounced the Inquisition-” she paused and looked up at Magnus, who was mostly just trying to keep up “-You in particular.”

“I mean, will that really harm us that much? Like we could still get by without the Chantry backing us...right?” The entire table turned to look at him now, looks of surprise and, in Leliana and Josephine’s case, resignation to a terrible fate, on their faces.

“....Yes, it will.” Josephine finally answered. “And it gets worse. The Chantry is scared of the prospect of you being called the Herald of Andraste. The remaining Clerics have declared it blasphemy, and we heretics for harboring you.” Magnus always knew his doom would come at the hands of a Cleric. 

“No doubt Roderick has a hand in it.” Cassandra chimed in bitterly. Git im!

“Regardless, it limits our options. Severely. We can’t go to the Mages either because we’re still connected to the Chantry via the Inquisition.”

“So does the breach just like...not matter to these people? At all?” Magnus asked, kind of ticked off. Like usually once people know the world is ending, the petty squabbles should go to the wayside. 

“They know that’s a threat, they just don’t think we can stop it.” Cullen answered, a shrug in his voice. 

“What’s more, the Chantry is telling everyone that you’ll make it worse.”

“Well that’s great. This’ll be easy.” Magnus tried not to put too much sarcasm in his voice, so as not to ruin morale. 

“There is one thing we have in mind that you can do.” Leliana reassured. “A Chantry Cleric by the name Mother Giselle has asked to speak to you. She is not far, and knows those involved far better than I. Her assistance could be invaluable.” That was a good lead, actually!

“Nice, do you think she’ll actually help us?” Magnus asked cautiously.

“I’ve heard she’s a reasonable sort, so there’s reason for hope. You’ll find her in the Hinterlands, near Redcliffe, tending to the wounded.”

“Nice, anything else you want me to get while I’m there? Like...snacks?”

“Look for other opportunities to expand the Inquisition’s influence while you’re there.” Cullen replied, breezing past the joke.

“You are best suited to recruitment, and we desperately need it.” Josephine paused before adding “But before that, we need to get you garments that aren’t...that.” Normally, Magnus would be a bit indignant, but honestly the onesie was starting to smell. 

“Nice, I’m sorta chest heavy though, so we may need a custom order or something.” Years of wearing too-tight shirts flashed before Magnus’ eyes. Julia taught him how to do some creative seam-ripping and re-sewing, (plus size was never a priority in Raven Roost’s fashion district, so one had to improvise), but his hands were too big to do any fine work.

“No worries, I can do your measurements right now.” As Josephine took out a tackle box of garmenting supplies, Magnus was surprised to find that no one thought anything of it. Had he been from this world, he would have realized they were just so acclimated to Josephine as an Orlesian™. They all just sort of filed out of the room as she gestured for them to leave.  
\--  
A weird silence pervaded the room as Josephine absolutely completely professionally measured the circumference of Magnus’ butt.

“So, uh, Josephine, uh...I did want to ask you a couple of things.”

“Of course, what do you want to know.”

“Okay, welp. I think whatever happened at the conclave messed with my brain or something because like...I don’t remember most of where I’m from?” Magnus was still trying to figure out how to break it to these people that he had never heard of anything they were talking about. “So if you could give me a refresher course in just..like most of the politics here? I’d appreciate it.” 

“Okay…” Josephine started. She didn’t exactly expect Magnus to be an expert but this was... “Where should I begin?”

“Act as if I’m a literal baby, right at the beginning.” Ah. Perfect. 

“Okay, so Thedas’ main ruling powers right now-”

“I’m sorry, what’s thedas? Like a continent or-” Magnus stopped because Josephine very clearly looked like she was about to scream. 

“Maker’s breath.” She muttered “It’s the world, Herald. How do you not know that.” Shit this wasn’t good. Not good. Nooooooooot good.

“Right right. Just testing you.” Even without her history in the Orlesian game Josephine would have been able to tell that was bullshit but she didn’t have the mental energy to question further. She did not want to know.

“Okay, well, Thedas’ main powers are Ferelden - where you are now -, Orlais, Tevinter, and the Qunari Empire. There’s also Antiva - where I am from, and Navarra - where Seeker Cassandra is from.”

“Nice. What do I need to know about each? Just like basics for missions so I don’t...get killed for saying dumb stuff.” Oh...he had no idea. No fuckin idea what the Orlesians were gonna do to him this poor idiot. 

“Ferelden’s ruler - Alistair - is fairly easygoing, as I’ve heard from Cullen. Mostly just stay out of the way of the Chantry - as much as you can now - and you should be fine.” Magnus nodded a bit for her to continue. “Orlais…...Well, Orlais is going to take a while to train your diplomatic skills and honestly even some orlesians find it difficult so...let’s save that for another day.”

“Sounds good to me.” Said Magnus, suddenly very very afraid. By this point, the measurements were done, and he was able to sit down. 

“Good. Tevinter won’t attempt to bother you too much, given that you’re neither a magic user nor an elf. Also, don’t take Solas.”

“Why?” Magnus asked innocently. Hooooooooo boy. That was going to be tough. 

“He would probably explain it better than me.” The years of slavery and discrimination at the hands of most countries was not a history that Josephine felt she could explain. 

“Okay, that’s...super foreboding.”

“I suppose, but I honestly think his commentary is more apt than mine where elves are concerned. Anything else I can help you with?”

“Yeah, what did you guys mean by ‘rebel mages?”

—  
Magnus shivered a bit as he approached Solas’ little corner of the camp. He really did hope Josephine came through with that new clothes order. Somehow that “everlasting warmth” spell Garfield “cast” on the onesie was beginning to fade.

“Herald of Andraste! What can I do for you?” called a smarmy voice reminiscent of the victory speech from a Fantasy 2002 Star Trek movie villain. It was Solas. 

“Hail and well met, Solas my dude.” Magnus answered, putting up a grin. “I was just curious about a few things, and Josephine suggested I ask you?”

“Oh.” Solas remarked in...was that surprise? “And what are these things.”

“Well I was asking her about the world powers, you know? And we got to Tevinter and she said you would be better suited to talk about why you probably shouldn’t be brought along?” Huh. Thought Solas. A surprisingly easy question for a diplomat to answer, and for most Fereldens - as Solas assumed Magnus was - to already know. 

“Oh. Quite simple. I’m an elf.”

“.....and?”

“And Tevinter…..enslaves elves? Quite frequently, actually?” Magnus looked flabbergasted. Well, he’d looked kind of flabbergasted this entire adventure. But this was extreme. 

“Wait like...for real? That’s super messed up, man.”

“Yes. It….is. Many elves are taken away from their clans, made to work in Tevinter homes, or made sacrifices for blood magic. Unless they are discovered to have it, of course, in which case Tevinter is….almost progressive. They are considered real citizens and entered into the of magic. Does that answer your question?” Magnus looked notably disturbed, but nodded all the same.

“Yeah...I guess. Oh, but I had one more question.”

“Alright. Ask away.” He said with an air of lightly-false deference.

“Uh...so what’s the thing with magic? Everyone keeps talking about ‘rebel mages’ or whatever...”

“Ah, yes.” This man made absolutely no sense to Solas. How could he not know any of this? Though that did explain why he wasn’t quite as scared of Solas as others at the camp might be. “Magic isn’t exactly...revered I suppose. Outside of Tevinter, that is. Many see us mages as threats because of our power. Especially those who use blood magic-”

“Blood magic?”

“It is essentially what it sounds like. People use their own blood or the blood of others to fuel their energy, rather than the Fade” At Magnus’ confused look, Solas explained further “The other plane in our world, that of spirits and magic.”

“Oh, yeah. I get you. Like the celestial plane, right?”

“....I suppose?” Something in the use of those words was oddly familiar to Solas, but he couldn’t remember at the moment, so he pressed on.

“Some mages enter the ‘Circle’ - by choice or by force - and are monitored by the Chantry. They are given very strict rules for how they are allowed to use magic. Some are made Tranquil if they disobey, which is a...distasteful fate. I’m sure Cassandra or Cullen would be able to explain in more detail.” Solas gave a bitter smirk as this last suggestion. 

“Why? Because they work with the Chantry?”

“Yes. Cullen is a Templar, he used to oversee many of these mages.”

 _Okay._ Magnus thought. _I guess I knew he was a bit uptight, and he wasn’t very pro-magic during the meeting._

“What about Cassandra?”

“She’s the one to oversee the Templars. Supposedly, a Seeker keeps them in line, but...”

Magnus felt a bit sick. He thanked Solas for his help and started to head back to his bunk, shivering a bit. Okay, so maybe he should have seen this coming, as Cassandra had also been a bit distrustful of Solas on the mountain but...he still felt a bit hurt, like his read of her was wrong. Something felt kinda...fucked up about this system. And now Cassandra was connected to all of it? Not exactly fun times. And like, sure, Solas might have been biased, and sure Cassandra might be the exception that proves the rule, but… it felt...not good. 

Just then, Varric came into view, waving at Magnus casually and giving a sort of sardonic smile. He motioned off towards the tavern, and Magnus followed, needing a drink.

“Hey, how you holding up, Sideburns?” Varric asked as they sat down, drinks in hand. Magnus brightened at the nickname before deflating again as he answered.

“Honestly? I dunno. I mean, I have no idea what’s happening anymore.”

“Neither do I, Sideburns. Neither do I.” Varric shook his head ruefully. “I mean, days now we’ve been staring up at this thing, thinking something’s gonna come out of it or something? But last time something came out of a big one, and it’s you? Weird as hell.”

“Seriously.” Magnus echoed as Varric downed half a pint. “I don’t even know if this is real or, like, a really bad dream, you know?”

“Trust me, I wish it were a bad dream. At least then I wouldn’t have to wonder if this were The Maker, or the Stone, or some elf god, or...whatever...just messing with us.”

“Yeah. Clearly this is some godly joke.” Varric raised an eyebrow at that.

“Not religious I take it?”

“No, not really.” I mean technically he was a servant of Istus but given he’d never really heard about any of the three gods, he doubted his limited religion knowledge would help him here. “Why?”

“I dunno, I figured you were Ferelden, and most of the non-mage Ferelden humans I’ve met have Andrastian. I mean, most of them were refugees and needed the boosted morale, but still.”

“Huh. I guess that makes sense. I’m not Ferelden though. I don’t exactly remember which country I’m from”- Even on his continent, this was true - “But honestly, I’m not exactly a Chantry person.”

“Honestly, good on you. Don’t tell the Seeker, but Chantry folk always creeped me out.” Varric leaned back in his chair nonchalantly. 

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.” Magnus grinned. 

Magnus didn’t sleep easy that night, but at least he stayed in bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Sorry we missed last week, but Thanksgiving happened. -_-  
> Also sorry this was mostly just reacting to Dragon Age's worldbuilding, but I wanted to give Magnus some sort of context for where things are and get him hip to how shitty Thedas treats Mages.  
> I and Dim_Shim might not have time to post next week because finals but you can FUCKIN BET I'm posting every. fuckin. week. during winter break.  
> Thanks as always to Dim_Shim, world's best beta/cowriter, for letting me make more allusions to the fact that Solas looks /exactly/ like Nemesis!Tom Hardy.


	6. Freakout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako goes down the rabbit hole. Everyone disapproves.

For a moment, Taako was frozen. Arm outstretched, he had watched as Angus had fallen. He had watched, hand reached out too late, to save Angus from whatever fate the crack brought. Seconds were flowing, and while all those around him started to yell, Taako was silent, mouth still agape. Then the moment passed, and Taako had countless thoughts crushing into his head at once, but a singular one stuck out: Find Angus.

Taako tore from the living room, stumbling into his own. He was in a nightgown, he can’t save his boy in a nightgown damn it. Taako grabbed clothes from the floor, a mix of washed and unwashed clothing. Nearly ripping off the nightgown, he grabbed a knee length purple skirt, short heeled ankle boots, a hot pink off the shoulder shirt, and his hat. Now dressed for battle, Taako grabbed his umbrastaff, and deftly left the room to return to the chaos that was now the living room. In the time it had taken him to get ready, Carey and Killian had arrived. They were being briefed by The Director about the most recent developments while Merle had taken the time to grab his arm and bible, his eyes closed and his brows furrowed as he concentrated on getting a good read on whatever was in this crack. Noelle was moving the polls to now account for the growth of the crack, and was also the first to notice Taako’s return. 

“Taako don’t you dare go near this thing, I’m warning ya.”

Taako stopped, too close to Noelle to be anything but confrontational. In a low voice, he said:

“I understand that you’re worried I’m gonna do something stupid, but I could not give less of a shit right now. Magnus and Angus are both gone, and I’m not gonna sit around while this thing decides to fuck everyone up. Now Noelle. Let. Me. Through.” 

The Director turned sharply at that, frown deepening, “Taako. I cannot allow for you to simply go headlong into this crack that leads to God knows what. For all we know, Magnus and Angus are trapped. We don’t know if this can go two ways, we don’t even know what created this thing. We need to collect information on how this crack works and I will not be throwing people into it just to see what happens next.”

Taako glowered, but went to sit on the couch facing everyone. “Fine.” He spat out, looking away as he plopped onto the couch. 

The Director sighed, looking towards Merle, asking, “Anything?”

Merle grimaced, “Nothing. All I know for sure is it’s not natural, least not in a Pan way. Powerful though, that’s for sure. Seems to be having little bursts of energy, but hard to say if that’s good or bad for us.”

Killian walked forward, “Shouldn’t we find a better way to, uh, contain this thing? If we don’t want this thing to cause anymore damage I think it probably needs something better than some caution tape. No offense, Noelle.”

“None taken.” Noelle replied.

The Director bit her lip, saying, “There is a chance I could, I could try to contain it by bubbling it. I’m relatively sure that casting a barrier around it would stop it from growing and, not to toot my horn so much but I’m quite good at barriers. We keep a distance while examining from now on though, there’s still a chance something pops out of this thing.”

It was then, when everyone had their full attention to The Director, that Taako acted. He cast Blink. Now in the Ethereal plane, he saw the strange white creatures that were now always there. But this time they were already further away, as if scared of the crack. Taako ignored them as he ran to the crack before his disappearance was noticed. He reappeared in the Material Plane right as his foot touched the edge of the crack. 

“Later losers, I’m getting the boys back!” Taako yelled as he took one step in, plummeting through the crack as he saw everyone turning to him in shock, with The Directors appalled face the last thing he saw before darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very sorry for how short this chapter is guys, finals week is upon me and @adrunkgiraffe and we cannot escape the chaos it brings. Apart from that hope you enjoyed this small interlude back in the BOB and boy do people not appreciate Noelle's caution tape.


	7. In for a penny in for a pound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Last Horny Boy follows his teammates down the rabbit hole. Afterwards he realizes he's not in Kansas anymore, and meets some strong personalities.

Merle sometimes was an oblivious man. One who, willingly or unwillingly, did not notice the emotions someone displayed. However, even if he were asleep, he would feel the anger radiating off The Director the moment that Taako went through the crack. It probably wasn’t the best of times to tell her he anticipated this, that, as much as Taako throws up his walls, he would do anything to make sure Angus and Magnus were ok.

Killian broke the silence saying, “Um, Director, should we do that bubble thing or what?”

The Director tore her gaze from the crack, taking a deep breath in and holding for much longer than healthy before breathing out. “I need to get an update from Davenport and may need to address some other concerns before that. Stay here until I get back, keep your distance. Oh, and Merle?”

“Yes?”

“Do. Not. Do. Anything. Foolish. Am I clear?”

Merle winced, “Got it.”

The Director went back the elevator, rubbing her temples as the doors closed. The moment it did all three Regulators looked down at Merle.

“What you all lookin’ at me for, I haven’t done anything!”

Carey snorted, “Not yet. But with your track record you’re gonna try and go after them, and you heard The Director, no traveling through the weird crack thing.”

Merle rolled his eyes. Of course they would assume he would go after his team with no plan and no idea of what laid ahead, putting himself in a whole heap of trouble. They were absolutely right, of course, but he wasn’t happy about it. As much of a bother they were, Magnus and Taako had become friends. And might as well save that brat Angus too, always made those two boys happy, even if Taako tried to hide it. So he needed a plan of great cunning to get past the Regulators. 

“I need some rope.”

Noelle sighed, “Why do you need rope?”

Merle crossed his arms, explaining, “Cuz that way I can go down this crack thing but not disappear to Pan knows where. Look, I know it sounds crazy, but trust me on this. You guys let me pass through and I can figure out what’s going on. Then, give it a minute or two, and pull me right out. Boom, we solve half the questions we have about this thing.” 

Killian dragged a hand through her face, saying, “Merle, The Director made it pretty clear no one should be close to this crack.” Carey chimed in “Yeah, sorry, that’s really not a great plan.”

Killian grabbed Merle by the scruff of his PJ’s, lifting him up, “Sorry man, but orders are orders. Even if I agreed with you we’d have to run it by The Director.”

Merle struggled as he grunted, “W-well you may think that but you know what-”. He then cast Thaumaturgy, and now, his voice three times louder, yelled, “ I’M LEAVING!”

Killian let go, covering her ears as Merle booked it to the crack and jumped in.

\--------------------

Merle opened his eyes to a glaring sun. Wincing, he sat up from the collection of rocks he had fallen into, wonderful. He groaned as he rolled off of them, his feet finally finding some dirt. Merle stretched, clenching all his digits on both soulwood and flesh hands to make sure he had not landed too hard. 

Looking around, he had no fucking clue where he was. Some mountainous area, that was for sure. Uh, why can’t he get to be stuck on a beach for once? Merle grabbed the Extreme Teen Bible from the pile of rocks he had fallen on. Wiping dirt from the bible, he realized something...odd. He cast Prestidigitation and the sparks came but something felt, not really blocked but...foggy. He could feel Pan’s power but it was...off, not really slower or weaker but like there was some type of thin cloth between the ethereal plane and the material plane.

“Stranger, what are you doing here?”

Merle rose his head to a man pointing spear at his throat. In his contemplation he hadn't noticed that a small troupe of humans in face paint had surrounded him. They looked like adventurers, maybe from some small village? They followed some group, possibly religious from the paints, but none that Merle recognized. Time to pull out the charm. 

“Well I seem to have gotten lost around these parts lookin’ for some buddies of mine, I don’t suppose any of you have seen a tall, burly human guy? Maybe an overdressed elf? A little annoying human kid?”

“We have never seen strangers of those type. What are your intentions?” A women to the side of him said.

Merle raised his hands, “Look guys, I’m just a lonely dwarf looking for a way around the place. Tell ya what, how about we help each other out, huh, scratch my back, I scratch yours?”

“You are too short to scratch my back, that is foolish.” A man behind him said.

Merle muttered under his breath, “Ok, no metaphors, got it.” More loudly continuing with, “I’m not being literal here Buster. What I mean is you let me stay at whatever camp you got set up until I can get my bearings, and in the meantime I can work for you.”

The man in front of him tilted his head, asking, “And what work, exactly, can you give?”

Merle smiled, “I’m a cleric, best there ever was.”

“What is a cleric?”

Merle’s face fell, “A healer, I’m a healer.” 

The man in front of him nodded, “The Avvar have few healers around these parts. Your assistance would be most welcome.”

Finally, some damn respect. Figures he would end up in the middle of nowhere, separated by his two teammates before someone recognized his good work. 

“Then we have a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer than last time but finally all three boys are in the same damn universe. Also Merle can't ever catch a break. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Send love to @adrunkgiraffe for starting this and getting to hear what I have in store for Ango and Taako. Also I'm gonna be away with family for roughly the next three weeks so no chapters from me for a while. I will still try to beta for the next couple of chapters in the meantime. Have a good last month!


	8. Round The Table

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus manages to get himself through a round of questing and use the War Table like a big boy! Also, I break the fourth wall and Cullen begins a quest that Dim_Shim and I have been planning this whole time.

Days after that point, Magnus was able to leave Haven for the first time since he woke up in Haven after the fight with the pride demon, traveling to see Mother Giselle as Leliana had suggested. Josephine’s clothes order had also come in, so Magnus was finally outfitted in real-ass clothing. She’d offered to take and ‘clean’ the onesie, but Magnus had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn’t see it again if he took her up, and he could just wash it in a river like he did when he was traveling with the elven group back in the day. 

Magnus, Cassandra, Solas, and Varric were walking down the path in the Hinterlands. Varric was pointing out various trees or birds along the way and comparing them to people around Haven. Solas was being silent, aside from the odd joke he deigned to toss their way. Cassandra was trying very hard not to yell at either of them, or at Magnus when he made ‘are we there yet?’ jokes.

Finally, they reached an outcropping, meeting up with a scout sent by Leliana. She was a stout, blonde, dwarven warrior. She grinned as they approached.

“Hail and well met!” Magnus greeted, much to the dismay of Cassandra.

“So, you’re him?” The warrior asked excitedly, “This is such an honor! I’m Inquisition Scout Harding. I - or, really, all of us - want to do whatever we can to help.” Before Magnus could reply, Varric spoke up with an even more joking tone to his voice than usual. 

“Harding, huh? Ever been to Kirkwall’s hightown?” The warrior looked confused.

“Um...no. Why do you ask?”

“You’d be Harding in...never mind.” Varric gave up. 

“Good try, buddy.” Magnus encouraged softly, giving Varric a pat on the back. Cassandra rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Nice to meet you, Harding.” Magnus continued. “What’s the sitch here?”

“Pretty dire. We’ve been trying to get horses from Redcliffe’s old horsemaster.” Magnus made a mental note to ask where Redcliffe was. “I grew up here, and everybody’s always known that Dennet’s horses are the fastest and most reliable. But the fighting between mages and templars has made it dangerous to do so. We don’t know if Dennet’s even alive.”

“We’ll keep an eye out for Dennet.” Magnus reassured. 

“Thank you, my lord. Mother Giselle’s at the crossroads, helping the wounded. Corporal Vale and the rest of our men are doing what they can to help but...I doubt they can hold out too long.”

“I’m guessing time’s in short supply then?”

“Yeah. We’ll help out here, but you should get going.”

\--

They didn’t find Dennet on the walk through, but they did find quite a few ‘apostates’ - a word which Magnus had learned meant ‘non circle mages’- and templars. He felt a bit bad taking down the former, now knowing what they were going through, but a look at Solas showed the elf to be impassive. 

“Sorry, dude.” He mumbled, bringing his sword down to conk one rebel mage on the head. Cassandra gave him a confused look. He just shrugged and went back to walking towards the crossroads. He was trying to separate his impression of the Chantry from his new ally, but the bond was still tenuous. 

“Herald, may I have a word?” the Seeker asked as they continued on, past some caves that glowed unsettlingly.

“Sure. Fire away.” Difficulty or not, he at least owed her an explanation.

“Have I given you some reason not to trust me?”

“It’s not that. I just.” He lowered his voice so Solas wouldn’t hear, “I feel like there’s better ways to deal with the mages than this. Or really...a lot of Chantry stuff?” Cassandra’s expression darkened. 

“Many would agree with you there. I do not always agree with the Templar order. However, this is chaos. If they attack us, what can we do except defend ourselves?” Magnus agreed with that, but there still was a weird feeling in his chest about the whole thing. 

“Do not feel too guilty for my portrayal of events to you, Herald.” Solas interjected, having eavesdropped with his Super Elf Hearing™. “Though I do not agree with most of the Chantry practices, the Seeker is right in that we cannot be too precious with our defense at the current moment.” As they had this riveting discussion, another Templar came running at them. He was about to strike at Magnus before Cassandra’s blade interrupted the downward swing of the Templar’s. The protector having become the protected, he stared at Cassandra in shock. Unbeknownst to him, Solas smirked as he continued: “And if lady Seeker is at ease fighting her own for our sake, how can I not extend the same courtesy.”

Eventually, they came to the site they were searching for. The field of the refugee encampment was littered with ice and flames. There were some Inquisition forces already there, but between the templars coming at them shouting ‘heretic’ and the mages coming at them thinking them templar oppressors...they weren’t doing well. Before Cassandra even had time to tell Magnus to be cautious, he had run at the nearest battling pair to help. Next to him was a blonde soldier. He nodded at her solemnly as they continued to fight off an angry mage. Magnus managed to make a surprise attack on the mage, getting it from behind and dealing quite a bit of damage. The mage retorted with a sort of Cone of Frost, which left an icy patch on his skin and smarted a lot. The warrior stepped in, though she winced from the pain inflicted on her by the radius of the spell. She herself got a knock in with her sword, dealing a good amount of damage. Magnus was next up and, ducking under an errant fireball shot by Solas, managed to get a fairly sizable chunk of the mages leg with his sword. The mage recoiled and retreated. Magnus got up to see if there was anything else he could do, but the rest of the crew were doing fine. The other mages started retreating, and Cassandra signaled the Inquisition to hold off. Things calmed down, so they started towards the encampment and Mother Giselle. 

When they found her, she was healing a soldier. Or, more accurately, she was pleading with said soldier to lay back and let himself be healed by mages. 

“Don’t...let them touch me, Mother.” The soldier protested “Their magic is…” 

“Turned to noble purpose” Giselle retorted, “Their magic is no more evil than your blade.” Magnus liked this lady.

“But-” The soldier tried.

“Hush, dear boy. Allow them to ease your suffering.” Finally, the soldier lay back, and the mages nearby got to work. Magnus had seen magic healing before, but none so hesitant as this. If Merle was to be believed, it was more of a guess-and-poke thing. 

“I’m guessing you’re Mother Giselle?” Magnus asked, not seeing as Cassandra cringed from the lack of formality. Giselle didn’t seem phased. 

“I am.” She replied, walking towards him. 

“I’m Magnus Burnsides.”

“You must be the one they are calling the Herald of Andraste.”

“Yup. That’s what they call me.” For some reason it felt like a lie. “Though I can’t say I want them to.”

“We seldom have a hand in our own destiny, unfortunately.” She laughed bitterly.

“Don’t I know it.” He joined in the bitter laughing. 

“But I did not ask you here simply for that.” She indicated for Magnus to walk alongside her. “I know the Chantry has denounced you. I also am familiar with those who have pushed for this denouncement. Some, I will be honest, are simply grandstanding. They hope to increase their chances of becoming the new divine by taking a stance. Others are simply terrified. It is a frightening world where so many good souls are needlessly taken from us.” A small ‘Julia’ pang hit at Magnus at that. The wound had been made fresh by the events in Refuge. 

“It was a tragedy.” Was all Magnus could say. I, DM Griffin Mcelroy, honestly can’t tell you if he’s talking about Raven’s Roost or the Conclave. 

“Fear makes us desperate.” Giselle continued. “But hopefully not beyond reason. Go to them, convince the clerics that you are not a demon to be feared. As of yet, they only have horror stories of you. Give them something else to believe.”

“But what if they...y’know...aren’t receptive?”

“Could it be worse than it is right now?” Giselle answered wryly. 

“I mean, yeah, kinda.” Magnus replied, really taking the narrative flow away. “You could have flooding, have them actively attack Haven, have mages attack Haven. Things could be worse.”

“Fair. Let me put it this way: you needn’t convince them all. You need only make a few of them doubt.”

“Okay, I think I get it.” For once he did, but it would be Josephine who would put that into action. “Thanks, Mother Giselle.”

“I don’t know if you were sent to us as a gift or no...all I can do is hope.”

“Amen to that.” Magnus replied. 

And with that and a promise to deliver the names of possible allies in the Chantry, they left. 

____

Magnus wasn’t the biggest fan of doing War Table work, but they had to. Josephine was very adamant that it would help ‘jog his memory’ (which they both knew more meant ‘teach him the basics’) about Thedas. So, as he sat next to Cullen, Magnus tried to pay attention to the matters at hand. Though every other listed item of business made him want to go out on the field himself. 

“First.” Josephine read off the list of letters she had from various complainers. “We have a matter brought to my attention by Varric. Apparently, a false third installment of his magnum opus, Hard in Hightown, has appeared in various Antivan printer shops.” 

“Wait a minute Varric has a book out?” Magnus Burnsides, ever the focused warrior, piped up. 

“I was surprised as you.” Cullen joked, clearly misinterpreting Magnus’ surprise.

“Let’s return to the matter at hand.” Cassandra redirected unexpectedly sternly. 

“He says he has checked with the Merchant’s guild and they could only say for certain that the writer published under a pen name. He asks that we look into it given my connections to the Antivan print houses. I could, in fact look into it myself.”

“If the Merchant’s guild couldn’t find it, perhaps professionals such as the Crows are more suited?” queried Leliana.

“Maybe, but I would think Josephine’s friend is the way to go, given that’s who Varric asked for? Especially since this isn’t like...life or death or something.”

“Fine, we’ll go with that.” Leliana’s eyes narrowed imperceptibly. 

“Next, we have a letter from a lord Kildarn. I...perhaps it is better if I merely read it aloud. 

‘Herald:  
Your Inquisition says it’s for order against chaos, reason in darkness. If you stand by this, come forth and drive the heretics from my lands. They claim to be refugees, but I have seen elves and apostates among them! Filthy savages, tearing at our roots. Our Monarch refuses to send forth armies, and my own knights were decimated at the Conclave. I require your aid to return peace to my lands!

Prove your loyalty and I will see you richly rewarded for your faith.

Lord Kildarn of Ferelden.’

“Well. He sounds like a bit of a dick.” Magnus broke the uncomfortable silence.

“Yes, lord Kildarn is...overbearing to say the least. I would suggest we send a refusal and nothing more.”  
“We could use his overbearingness to our advantage, though. Get him on our side by shooing away the refugees.” Leliana pointed out. 

“But I’d rather help the refugees than be seen helping this...Kil-darn.” Retorted Cullen, who was becoming a cooler dude by the minute. 

“Yeah, I’m siding with Cullen on this one.” Magnus nodded. “Let’s send some forces to help ‘em, maybe invite some over. Good idea, Cullen.”

“No problem, Herald. Um..ah..Josephine, any more items on that list?” Cullen was blushing? A little?

“...Right.” Josephine continued with a quirked eyebrow. “Lastly, Teyrn Cousland wants to hold a ceremony for Divine Justinia…” Josephine trailed off a little with a look of sympathy towards Cassandra, whose expression was pointedly stoic. “I can arrange for an ataché if we’d like.”

“Or an honor guard.” roused from his embarrassment, Cullen suggested this in a quiet tone. “There are some Ferelden in the ranks, after all.”

“I know Teyrn.” Leliana spoke up solemnly. “I also knew Justinia. Even if I can’t go...a letter from me would not be remiss.”

“Maybe the letter then.” Magnus nodded as he spoke, softly given it was Magnus. Even he could tell how important Justinia had been them. The rest nodded and Cassandra dismissed the meeting, noting that there would be another one tomorrow to discuss the upcoming trip to Val Royeaux and the problem of Inquisition force gone missing in the Fallow Mire, wherever that was. Magnus left to go look over some more books that Josephine had got him, but he did notice Leliana and Cassandra speaking in low tones as the war table room emptied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, readers! thanks as always to Dim_Shim for beta-ing and pointing out that Harding is, in fact, a dwarf. Next chapter we get to actually meet some more companions!!!!


	9. Taako is good out...here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako meets some fancy people and shit talks his way into a job. No one is comfortable with this situation.

Taako woke up to a horrible headache and the sun deciding to be out and about. Really, how dare the sun decide to shine down on the world when he was feeling this god awful. Taako felt around on...stone? 

Taako finally sat up and opened his eyes. He was in the middle of some stone road, with trees surrounding the area. The sun also allowed Taako to clearly see the carriage in front of him, with two beautiful horses only a few feet away from him, seeming to enjoy the break from pulling. The carriage also had a very upset male elf who was shouting at him in, was that Fantasy French?

“ZUT ALORS! J’AI FAILLIT TE FRAPPER!” The man shouted, getting off of his seat to get in Taako’s face. He continued to shout as Taako slowly stood up, wobbling a little.

Taako grabbed his umbrastaff as he said, “Listen, bubeluh, first off, I don’t know what your saying so if you could speak in Common that would be fuckin great. Second I am very tired so if you could stop yelling that would be appreciated. Oh and third, where the hell am I?” 

The man stopped and properly looked at Taako, noticeably at his clothing and umbrastaff. After looking at Taako’s unimpressed face for a few more seconds, the man walked over to the carriage and opened the door, talking in more Fantasy French to whoever was inside.

Taako took that time to scan the area and figure out what the hell was going on. He was in the middle of some road, with the outline of a large city behind him. To the left and right of him were large forests. Taako looked over at the carriage proper. It was a rich blue, with large sections covered in silver and gold, master metalwork evident. The horses were both a snowy white, the leather straps connecting them brand new. Taako hoped to Istus (and maybe even the Raven Queen) to help him deal with whoever was inside.

The male elf stopped talking and jumped to the side as a female elf dressed in expensive green silks and a strange half mask stormed forward. Taako lifted his head up as he asked, “And can you speak something I can understand? Or am I going to have to do some charades bullshit around here?” 

The elf woman sneered at Taako, “How dare you block the path of Empress Celene, and speak in such a foul manner at an ambassador, do you have any ideas of the consequences you can face for this?” Oh shit, this was bad. Empress meant important, which meant involved in politics, which meant possibly good at detecting bullshit. Taako gave as wide of a fake smile as he could.

“Oh lovely, you can speak. Alright so, I’m a little bit hungover from a party still and, gosh we did so much wild shit last night, I can’t even remember where I am right now. I’m sorry about blocking the road and all, truly am but I don’t think you can blame a guy for trying to sleep off all the booze. I wanna know if you saw any of my buddies, you know, I don’t want them getting into any trouble, we were just passing by, really.”

The woman raised her eyebrow, confusion and anger emerging during Taako’s explanation. “You're lying.” 

Taako snorted, “Um, excuse me, no I’m not. I-I don’t even know why would you think I’m lying? There is no reason for me to lie and like, I barely know you-”

“Briala, what is taking so long?” A women’s voice, coming from the carriage, interrupted.

Briala stiffened, turning towards the carriage, “Nothing, Celene. This elf is trying to waste time.”

“And what of the clothes that Philbert described?” The voice asked.

“They are indeed strange, but that is besides the point-”

“I will decide on what is most important here, Briala. The man has no weapons correct?”

Briala scanned Taako, looking for hidden knives while Taako did everything to not look at his staff. Briala narrowed her eyes as she responded, “No, Celene.” 

“Very well then.”

Celene stepped out of the carriage and boy howdy was she fancy. Layers of slivers and blues came through before the body of the Empress proper got past the door. She also had a mask, much more detailed than Briala’s. Celene examined Taako’s outfit as she questioned, “And tell me, who are you? Where are you from? What are you doing here? Where did you acquire such strange clothes?”

Taako threw his shoulders back. Time to impress, “Well hello there, Empress, right? Well the name is Taako, that’s T-A-A-K-O and I never really stayed in one place, but I did come out of the forest just now. If you couldn’t hear me explaining to your buddy over here me and some buds got our drink on, and most of the night is a blur for me, so now I’m pretty lost actually. Made most of the clothing myself, actually, so hard to get what you want these days.”

Celene regarded him, turning her head slightly as she asked, “And do you have any skills?”

Briala sharply turned her head at Celene, eyes wide.

Taako knew when an opportunity was open, and god was he gonna take it. “I can write recipes and supervise cooking, I can go out and kill some guys if you need that. Oh, actually, I’m really good at retrieving things from baddies, that’s a specialty of mine. I can help design clothing or help someone fix their wardrobe. I’m great for markets, can get great deals off of anyone. I can entertain guests, if you have visitors. Bottom line, I can do a lot of jobs.”

Celene lightly smiled, and turning, said, “Briala, let this man in, he must be tired from a night of drinking.” 

Taako side eyed Briala as she did her best to not show surprise at Celene’s statement. She side eyed him as well, disdain clear as she said, “After you, Taako.”

Taako pulled another blatant fake smile, confidently walking into the carriage as he knew he was dealing with way more shit than he bargained for.  
\----  
In the hour it took to enter the city, talk to guards, enter the castle, listen to Briala list off a schedule to Celene, and checking out the buildings on the way in Taako realized he had no fucking clue where the hell he was. Not only was the area not recognizable, but a bunch of the terms Briala had listed off made no sense. What where Mages? Why the shit were they fighting Templars, and who the fuck are Templars? What is this ‘Inquisition’ she kept mentioning, and why did they seem to be such a pain in the ass to Briala and Celene? Who the fuck was this “Herald of Andraste” they kept mentioning? Speaking of which, what is an Andraste and why were they so protective about some random dude being its Herald? 

It was these questions and more that Taako knew he probably should not ask least he look like a complete idiot. He could play the part, sure, but there was a difference between being being dumb and not knowing the most basic of basics. Taako suspected asking either of these fancy ladies would result in him being, at best, kicked out, and at worst, killed.

The door was opened as Celene exited, Briala close behind, Taako trailing a half step slower to take in the view. Heavily guarded, heavily decorated, and full of people. Not the best moment to slip away. Taako kept evaluating how deep in the shit of a situation he was in until he heard Celene start talking.

“You are a strange elf, Taako. To be quite blunt, I’m interested in how you would fare in The Game, but for know I suppose you must prove your worth. Briala, lead him to the kitchens, I want him acquainted with the chefs as soon as possible. Taako, I am going to pose a challenge to you.” At this point she turned her head to look at Taako, “You must make a new recipe to my liking. I will give you a week to familiarize yourself with the dishes here and another to make a recipe. Succeed and you may stay working in the castle. Fail, and you will be exiled from Val Royeaux.”

Taako blinked slowly, “Oh sorry, am I allowed to talk now? Yeah sure I’ll take the challenge, beam me the fuck up Scotty.”

Celene smiled at him as she faced forward again. Briala snorted. Taako kept his face blank as they came to a large ballroom area, Celene walking up the stairs as Briala kept forward towards a set of wooden doors to the side. Taako followed Briala through the door into a set of stairs going down. Five more minutes of going through tiny hallways resulted in another set of wooden doors, unable to block the loud noises of a busy meal being cooked. The pair walked through, and Taako’s breath hitched.

It had been years since Taako had been in a kitchen, even longer in a stationary one, and the work put into this one was clear as day. There were multiple pot racks scattered around the kitchen. Spoons and knives of all materials and sizes lined the walls, tables of various different sizes for different stations were spread out in one large square formation. In one station, an old female elf was examining a defeathered pheasant as a young, brown haired male elf looked on in worry. On another, a pile of pumpkins were being cut by a group of three elfs, while a pair of children brought in a pile of herbs in baskets. It was amazing, until one of the chefs looked up.

“BRIALA!” She shouted in surprise. Immediately, all of the people stopped to look at Briala, and noticing she had brought someone with her, looked at Taako in confusion. 

Briala cleared her throat before taking on a very authoritative voice, “Celene has taken pity on this Dalish man and given him a job here. He is to learn as much as he can as quickly as possible. In two weeks he must present a dish to Celene to her liking. Get him ready to work by tonight. Also, he does not know Orlesian, so Nadia-” The old elf with the pheasants perked up, “You will be in charge of teaching him. I expect that his inclusion will not hinder dinner service tonight.”

“No, Madame.” A chorus of voices replied.

Briala nodded, leaving the room. Taako stayed still, examining the group looking at him. He slowly stepped away from the door, towards the old woman who was maybe his new boss? Maybe?

“Well sorry for stopping the work line like that but let me properly introduce myself. The name is Taako, I can pull my own fuckin weight if need be, and no you cannot touch this kick ass umbrella. However, I don’t remember how I got here, so I’m gonna be a bit slow to catch up on all the new shit going on.”

Taako finished his introduction by putting a hand out to Nadia, pheasant still in hand. She looked at his hand, then up to his face, and then put the pheasant in his hand. 

“Check that there isn’t any feathers left and we’ll see what you're made of, boy.“ Nadia stood up and pulled a pipe out, going out the door. Taako slumped into the now empty stool. He almost forgot, being a newbie sucked. Taako turned the pheasant in his hands as he thought through the events of the past 24 hours. It was insane, but then again, most things that happened in his job were insane. So Taako would wait and see what, exactly, was going on around here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO GUYS. So first and foremost so sorry for not updating since December. However! @adrunkgiraffe and I are (relatively) back on track with the fic. As a gift for waiting so long, here is the Taako in Thedas chapter originally planned to come out later. Oh also "Zut alors! J'ai faillit te frapper" is roughly "Damn/Dang it! I almost hit you". If anyone knows good French please check that is right but I am keeping 'zut' even though it is only used by grandmas.


	10. Val Royeaux

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So far the inquisition is off to a...rocky start

Magnus wasn’t one to really appreciate architecture or giant, beautiful buildings, but even he could admit when he was blown away. It had happened the first time he’d seen Raven’s Roost, even though he was sort of in a daze that day. It had happened the first few times he’d ridden in a bubble, even though he’d been drunk that second time. It had happened sort of when they were in Goldcliff but that was cut short by the giant vine monstrosity and then what Merle did with that giant vine monstrosity. Also that time in Refuge with the temple. Now it was happening again in Val Royeaux.

“Careful now, Sideburns. Don’t get dizzy.” Varric chuckled to himself as Magnus turned around, taking in the view of the giant towers. He stopped, a bit embarrassed. Normally, Magnus was at least somewhat on task, because that was how the THB functioned. All of them half-paying attention so they could rein each other in. Now, he had two entirely focused teammates and one who could quip and focus at the same time. He was languishing in this opportunity a bit.

“The city still mourns, be serious.” Cassandra interrupted. Indeed, few people were out and about. Except, that is, for one hooded human, running towards them at considerable speed. 

“My lord Herald.” They greeted, bowing. 

“Hail and well met.” Magnus answered, still with a block of discomfort.

“You’re one of Leliana’s agents, correct? Report.” Cassandra had no such discomfort, all business.

“The Chantry Mothers await you...though Templars do in equal measure.”

“Templars? Why are Templars here.”

“The people seem to believe they will protect them from….well….us.” replied the agent. 

“From...us?” Cassandra asked, flabbergasted and very obviously enraged. 

“...it may be better to simply show you.” The agent replied, very obviously spooked by Cassandra’s infuriated response. And with that, they led the team of four through the streets of Val Royeaux, past several citizens who very obviously and very nervously avoided eye contact. 

“Yeah I think they’re probably not our biggest fans.” Magnus murmured to himself. 

“You don’t say?” Varric retorted next to him. 

Eventually, they came to the square, where a woman in Chantry clothes stood facing a decently sizable crowd of fairly scared citizens. Some of them wore masks, which Magnus vaguely (key word here: vaguely) recalled from his lessons with Josephine as part of Orlesians weird...game or whatever. The woman was also surrounded by other Chantry members, and a sizable Templar entourage.

“Good people of Val Royeaux.” The woman began. “Hear me! Together we mourn our Divine, her beautiful, naïve mind, a voice silenced by treachery!” She walked forward, dramatically. “You wonder what will become of her murderer-” And at this she turned to look directly at Magnus “wonder no further.” She gestured towards him, a mocking reverence in her voice “Behold! The So-Called Herald of Andraste! Claiming to rise where our Beloved fell!” The crowd now also turned towards Magnus, a mix of fear, anger, and curiosity in their gaze. “We say this is a false prophet! No servant of anything but his own selfish greed.” The crowd, Cassandra, and the woman were all looking expectantly at Magnus now. As though waiting for him to answer her. 

“Listen…” Magnus started “I never really said I was the Herald of Andraste.” Cassandra’s face soured the same way it always did when he said stuff like this. “I’m only trying to help close the Rift, honestly.” This was not going well. “Anyway, this would go much better if you guys would like… not attack us… constantly...” Public speaking was not Magnus’ strong suit. 

Luckily, Cassandra was able to step in, adding: “The Inquisition seeks only to end this madness before it is too late!” 

“It’s too late!” Answered the woman. “The Templars have returned to the Chantry to face this ‘Inquisition’ and save the people.” As she spoke, a group of Templars began mounting the steps to meet her. However, one punched her in the fucking face. Which, while convenient for the Inquisition, was decidedly uncool.

“Hey, dude, what the fuck?” Magnus cried out. 

“She claims authority to the point of insult. Much like you do.” Sneered Templar McFists, before walking off, followed by a surprisingly unfazed Cassandra.

“Lord Seeker Lucius!” She implored. “It is imperative that we speak with-” However, Lucius did not, apparently, want to talk. He didn’t even acknowledge her beyond a simple:

“Do not address me.”

“Lord Seeker?” Cassandra ground to a halt, floored by this reaction.

“Starting a heretical movement? Attempting to install a puppet as speaker for Andraste? You should feel ashamed.” Lucius snarled at her and gestured at the approaching Magnus. “You should all be ashamed. The Templars failed no one by leaving to purge the mages. No, it is you who have failed, in leashing our righteous swords with doubt and fear. You are too late to attempt an appeal at our gates.”

“Listen,” Magnus tried to enter the conversation, “I don’t know if you’ve realized but we’re not exactly in a position to be fighting. We should be working together to close the Breach.” 

“Oh, the Breach is indeed a major threat,” Answered Lucius “I merely disbelieve your ability to do anything about it.”  
“But Seeker!” One templar asked. “If he can really do as he says-” 

“You are called to a higher purpose” another answered. “Do. Not. Question.” 

“I-” Lucius answered as though no question had been posed “will make the templar order one that stands alone against the void. We deserve recognition. We deserve independence. You have shown us nothing. The Inquisition has shown us less than that.” He turned to the group that had marched in with him and spoke to them, “Templars! Val Royeaux is unworthy of our protection. Now, we march!” And with that, the group just left, as Cassandra was left to stare in shock. 

“Well.” Varric started as soon as the group had left. “That went absolutely fantastic.”

“Has Lord Seeker Lucius gone mad?” Cassandra exclaimed, finally broken from her reverie. 

“I take it you know him, Cassandra?” Magnus asked. 

“He took over the Seekers of Truth two years ago, after the death of Seeker Lambert.” She explained. “He was a decent man, I never knew him for ambition or grandstanding.” 

“Well, that’s apparently changed.” Magnus tried to joke, but it fell flat. He kinda missed having people who would go on riffs with him when their adventure hit a roadblock. 

“This is bizarre…” Cassandra trailed off again.

“Well, in the end, we’re still not getting help from the Templars. We should head back to inform the others.” 

Before they could leave however, they were met by a masked messenger. 

“You are the Herald of Andraste, are you not?” he asked.

“Uh...yeah?” Magnus replied. 

“I have an invitation for you.” The messenger passed him a gilded silver envelope. Inside was a small sheet of paper inscribed with the following:

“You are cordially invited to attend my salon held at the Chateau of Duke Bastien de Ghislain.

Yours,   
Vivienne de Fer  
First Enchanter of Mortsimmard  
Enchanter of the Imperial Court.”  
“Well, Herald?” Asked Cassandra “What does it say?” 

“I think we might have something come out of this trip, after all.” Magnus replied, passing her the note and watching her eyes widen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha...ha....sorry for the wait, my pals. This took way longer than expected, I know. Anyway, thanks to all of you for your comments and to my good good duderoni, Dim-Shim for beta-ing.

**Author's Note:**

> Am I ready for this to be my magnu(s)m Opus? fuck yeah. Also thank u to my friend @dim_shim for beta-ing.


End file.
